In seventh grade, after reading a newspaper article about female engineers at NASA, Maria Bualat knew that was what she wanted to be when she grew up. Fast forward to today. Maria is now a robotics engineer NASA Ames Research Center; in Mountain View, CA where she develops robotics systems for space exploration. Her main project at the moment is Astrobee — a free-flying robot for the International Space Station. It will be able to do inspections and also monitor air quality.

As the deputy group lead for the Intelligent Robotics Group at NASA Ames, she does high level thinking, project management and systems engineering. This means she sets the goals and direction of the project and coordinates with different teams and engineers to make sure the project is successful.

Maria earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and was hired at NASA right out of school. She continued her education and earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering with an emphasis in controls while simultaneously working at NASA. For students interested in a career in science or engineering, she recommends cultivating good communication and writing skills.

Author

Lauren Farrar

Lauren has a background in biology, education, and filmmaking. She has had the privilege to work on a diverse array of educational endeavors and is currently a producer for KQED Learning's YouTube series Above the Noise. Lauren's career has taken her to the deepest parts of the ocean to film deep sea hydrothermal vents for classroom webcasts, into the pool to film synchronized swimmers to teach about the pH scale, and on roller coasters to create a video about activation energy. And, she’s done it all for the sake of education. Lauren loves communicating science! Follow her on twitter @LFarrarAtWork

About KQED

QUEST is supported by:

The National Science Foundation

Funding for KQED Learning is provided by the Koret Foundation, the Cisco Foundation, David Bulfer and Kelly Pope, the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, the Mary A. Crocker Trust, and the members of KQED.

Support for KQED Science is provided by HopeLab, the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, The David B. Gold Foundation, The Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, The Vadasz Family Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Smart Family Foundation and the members of KQED.